“Stop fighting!” Daphne cried.
Bunny shouted an incantation and Baba Yaga went flying across the room again. In return, the old crone waved her hands in the air and her body transformed into twenty flying daggers that sped toward the Wicked Queen with deadly accuracy. Bunny cast a spell and a glowing red shield appeared, knocking the daggers to the ground. They melted into a thick pool, from which Baba Yaga rose.
The old crone reached into the folds of her raggedy dress and brought something out. She held it to her mouth and blew. Hundreds of hairy spiders leaped from the device onto Bunny, burrowing under her skin. She screamed in agony.
Before anyone could stop her, Daphne pushed between the dueling witches. “Cut it out!”
Baba Yaga sneered at the girl but took a step back. “I have no appetite for this fight. Gather yourselves and go.”
“No!” Daphne cried. “Sounds to me like you’re afraid.”
Baba Yaga’s head turned toward the little girl so quickly Sabrina heard the bones rattle inside the witch’s neck. “What did you say?”
“You heard me. You’re a coward,” Daphne said, standing her ground. “You’re terrified of going up against Mirror, but you’re hiding it under your usual grouchiness. I’m not fooled.”
“Daphne, shut up,” Morgan pleaded.
“I will kill you and suck on your bones, little one,” the witch raged. “I’ve made soup from children like you who were far less lippy.”
Daphne cringed. “Fine. You’re going to eat me. That doesn’t mean you’re not a lousy witch. You like to hide in this creepy house, but how scary could you be if my sister and I keep coming back here? You’ve lost your touch, Old Mama.”
“Daphne, shut up!” Henry cried.
“It’s Old Mother,” Baba Yaga seethed.
“Whatever! Maybe I made a mistake thinking you were the most powerful witch in town. I guess I’ll have to go find Ozma of Oz.”
Baba Yaga’s anger was so intense her ratty hair stood on end. “Ozma of Oz? That child doesn’t have a fraction of my power!”
“Maybe, but she’s beating you in bravery,” Daphne shouted back.
There was a long, awkward pause and then Baba Yaga started a new chant. The floor beneath their feet began to shake and rock. The walls drew inward as if the group were trapped inside a deflating balloon, and a moldy chandelier crashed to the floor mere inches from where Bunny was picking bugs out of her skin. Sabrina clenched her fist, preparing for a fight, when her father yanked her and Daphne by the arm.
“OK! Everyone outside,” Henry cried. Unfortunately, the door was closed tight, and no matter how hard Sabrina pulled, it wouldn’t budge. Henry took a turn but got the same result.
“Step aside,” Morgan said. Her eyes glowed red and an invisible force as powerful as a hurricane hit the door. It flew off its hinges and sailed into the woods.
Once free, the group, led by Elvis, spilled out through the opening, only to be stopped in their tracks. Standing at the gate were two figures. The first was Granny Relda, or rather, something horrible wearing her skin. Sabrina cried out, seeing her beloved grandmother under the control of such evil.
The second person waiting for them was wearing ancient chain mail armor and heavy boots covered in spikes. His sword was immense, with a golden hilt inset with a ruby that looked like a bloodshot eye. His long hair, the color of blood, hung lifelessly down his back like a waterfall of death.
“Atticus,” Sabrina gasped. She had first seen the evil prince inside the Book of Everafter, but out here in the real world, he was flesh and blood and, by the look in his eyes, eager to hurt someone.
Granny was the first to speak. The voice was neither hers nor Mirror’s, but a monstrous combination of the two. “I’ve come to make you an offer.”
“You let go of my grandmother first!” Sabrina shouted.
“I wish I could, Starfish, but at the moment I’m sort of stuck,” Mirror said. “It’s an unfortunate consequence of the monkey wrench you threw into my plans. If you had just let me have Basil, I wouldn’t be trapped in this elderly body with all its aches and pains. But here we are. Oh, let me introduce you to my business associate, His Majesty Prince Atticus Charming.”
The Wicked Queen stepped forward with her hand twisted into an angry claw. “YOU!!!”
“Well, if it isn’t my mother-in-law,” Atticus said. “It’s been a long time.”
“Not long enough,” Bunny seethed.
“Where is my wife? With my brother, no doubt,” he said as he drew his deadly sword. “No mind. He will not keep her. Locking me away for hundreds of years has not stopped me. Nothing will stop me.”
Both the witch and the warrior looked ready to attack, but they were interrupted by Baba Yaga, who charged through the door of her home like an angry bull. She swiveled her head from the Grimms to Mirror and his companion. “Now, what is this?”